View full sizeGeorge Vlosich III, left, and his brother Greg designed the shirts pictured, and George produced the mural behind them.BRUCE GEISELMAN/SUN NEWS

LAKEWOOD - Local artist George Vlosich III, his brother and father plan opened their GV Art & Design store Aug. 10.

The new business, at 17411 Detroit Ave., will sell decorated T-shirts and artwork produced by George III and his brother, Greg, with help from their father, George II.

The two brothers displayed an interest in and aptitude for art early in their youth.

“We’ve been doing artwork our whole lives,” the younger George said. “I’d get up in the morning and draw and color. My dad would work with us and saw the talent and nurtured it and helped it grow. We work with him now. He’s a part of it, too.”

George studied at the Cleveland Institute of Art after graduating from Lakewood High School. He went on to establish a career in advertising, but continued with his love of art. In 2007, he gained attention on the Internet and in the press for an Etch-A-Sketch portrait of then-Cleveland Cavalier LeBron James while the team was in the NBA playoffs.

A YouTube video of George creating the portrait quickly gained popularity.

“It got a million hits in a week,” George said. “We did a whole campaign around it. We did shirts, and the Cavs carried them in their team shop.”

The Vlosich family began selling T-shirts and artwork on the Internet. They launched a line of T-shirts with the slogan, “Cleveland that I love.” They also branched out into producing Brown and Indians T-shirts.

Several players and former players are wearing the company’s shirts, George said. Former Browns linebacker Scott Fujita appeared in a photograph in ESPN The Magazine wearing one of GV Art & Design’s T-shirts, George said.

Greg, who attended the Cleveland Institute of Art and majored in design at Cleveland State University, began working with his brother.

“My dad and my brother and I do all the T-shirts and artwork,” Greg said. “It’s very collaborative. We brainstorm.”

George said he left an advertising agency last year to work full-time on his art and design business. The family decided to open their own store after outgrowing their old location.

“We’ve been working out of my mom and dad’s house since we started,” George said. “My mom was very patient with us for a long time. We were overtaking her house, every room, and it was time for us to get something bigger.”

George and Greg recently were putting the finishing touches on the interior of their new store in preparation for its opening.

The company operates a website featuring its merchandise at gvartwork.com.

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